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1. Trudeau rhetoric can’t change Canada’s fiscal reality

   Due to federal tax changes, 61 per cent of low-income families face higher personal income taxes. ...

2. Freeland doubles down despite dismal pre-COVID economic numbers

   The Trudeau government ranks last on average total household income growth. ...

3. Trudeau government’s fiscal ‘snapshot’ doubles down on uncertainty

   Appeared in the Vancouver Sun, July 10, 2020 According to the Oxford Dictionary, a snapshot is “a short description that gives you an idea of what something is like.” When the Trudeau government delivered its Economic and Fiscal Snapshot 2020 on Wednesday ...

4. Reality of government matters when assessing policy options

   In 1969, UCLA economist Harold Demsetz formalized an important concept in comparative economics—the Nirvana fallacy. His argument was that it was inappropriate, misleading and potentially counterproductive to compare hypothetical ideal ...

5. Budget 2017 spells end of the Chrétien Consensus?

   Under the Trudeau government, deficits continue with no end in sight, debt is growing and taxes have increased. ...

6. Federal Budget 2017 proves the plan is failing

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, March 22, 2017 In listening to Finance Minister Bill Morneau (pictured above) deliver his government’s 2017 Budget, it’s clearly evident that the minister and his government believe their plan is working. “A year and a half ...

7. End of the Chrétien Consensus?

     The Chrétien Consensus was an implicit agreement that transcended political party and geography regarding the soundness of balanced budgets, declining government debt, smaller and smarter government spending, and competitive taxes that emerged in the ...

8. Morneau’s ‘Plan for Middle Class Progress’ cuts GDP by $131 billion

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, November 2, 2016 On Tuesday, Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau released his government’s Fall Economic Statement titled A Plan for Middle Class Progress. As noted in the release, “Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced ...

9. Federal deficits could total nearly $200 billion over next five years

   Appeared in the Financial Post, May 12, 2016 As the saying goes, a moving target is hard to hit. That is why repeated shifts in the federal government’s deficit and debt goals over the past six months have been so concerning. What started as a promise to ...

10. Moving Targets: Re-estimating Federal Deficits and Debt-to-GDP through 2020/21

    The federal government has repeatedly shifted the goal posts on its own “fiscal anchors.” This bulletin examines the robustness of the current “fiscal anchor” to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio by the government’s first mandate. The 2016 federal budget ...